Two Darien establishments received a “C” rating, the worst in the town A-B-C ratings system, in in the nine most recently released Health Department inspection reports.
Two other establishments were rated “B”, and five more received an “A.”
The nine inspection reports released Thursday were based on inspectors’ visits on April 9 to 11.
Most Recent Inspection Results
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation for each part of the list, including links, is just below the list).
Keep in mind that a food-serving establishment with a history of good ratings may occasionally get a poor inspection rating, occasionally the best do, and every restaurant normally gets a few things wrong (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
—Darien Seafood Market — 1941 Post Road — April 9 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 94
—Fisherman’s Net — 11 Old Kings Hwy. North — April 6 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
—Louie’s Italian Restaurant — 10 Center St. — April 9 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 82 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Large line bain marie not cold holding product: temperature between 51 to 55 degrees (unit was emptied during inspection, food discarded); large batch of cooked beef cooling covered from previous day at 53 degrees; food left uncovered in the walk-ins [refrigerators] downstairs; raw chicken stored on top of other proteins (downstairs walk-in); storing items in the hand sink; no sanitizer set up on the line, red bucket near prep sink without detectable chemicals; dish [washing] machine at bar 10 ppm [parts per million] bleach, must be 50 ppm; utensils stored unclean: tongs, spatulas, ladles, juicers; thawing seafood at room temperature; knives stored between counter tops on the line; fruit/drain flies observed in kitchen hallway, dish area, bar and downstairs (near produce storage), current invoice?; dusty venting and tiles over the salad station.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Who is in charge of this kitchen? QFO? [Qualified Food Operator] House-made Caesar dressing (containing raw unpasteurized eggs must be identified on the menu) this was discussed with the owner. Requested a current examination invoice ASAP for flies.”
Image from Darien Health Dept. website
April 9 inspection report for Louie\’s Italian Restaurant
—Mangia’s Deli — 72 Tokeneke Road — April 9 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Post Corner Pizza — 847 Post Road — April 11 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 92
—Maplewood at Darien — 599 Post Road — April 11 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 92 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Sauce cooked the previous night covered and stacked in the walk-in at 46 to 49 degrees (discarded); red bucket on the line without sanitizer (soap only); unclean nonfood contact surfaces on the line; faucet leaking at ware wash and water from dish machine.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Label all salad in walk-in preparing for FDA code discussion, emphasis on hand washing with employees.”
Image from Darien Health Dept. website
April 11 inspection report for Maplewood at Darien
—Meatball & Co. — 23 Tokeneke Road — April 6 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 94
—Shake Shack — 1340 Post Road — April 7 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98
— Sugar Bowl — 1033 Post Road — April 7 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 95
Dates link to the food establishment’s inspection report referenced here (when available, sometimes it takes a while to get posted online), and Darien’s own A/B/C ratings link to a Web page showing several of the restaurant’s recent inspection ratings.
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See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (April 6)
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For restaurants and other food-serving establishments rated “C,” and for some others of interest to the public (like schools) additional information is given. When we provide that information here, then words within brackets (“[ ]”) have been added for clarity by Darienite.com; semicolons (“;”) separate individual comments by the inspectors. Each comment separated by semicolons is about a particular violation that triggers a deduction of one or more points from a perfect state score of 100.
How Darien’s Food-Serving Places Are Rated
Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own A/B/C ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and demerits (of 1 to 4 points each) for various code violations.
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The Darien system takes into account problems that are ongoing, so a restaurant scoring higher than others on the state scale may actually get a lower score on the Darien scale.
The “A”, “B” and “C” letter grades a restaurant gets in its last inspection will be prominent on these certificates, which must be posted where customers can see them, and you can use your phone and the “QR” code to the right of the letter grade to get to the department’s ratings website for more information.
You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments along with copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores on this website.
Any establishment actually deemed unsafe can be closed by the town Health Department until violations are fixed. Town Health Director David Knauf says that has never happened in the time he’s been with the department.